Nokia 8110 4G: Advantages and disadvantages of the model

Bring back the classics

Simple push-button phones are almost extinct. What remains are either completely ascetic models costing about a thousand rubles, or these are parodies of the past. Meanwhile, the demand for high-quality phones with buttons remains. But they must be really good quality: the body must be metal, the keys must be comfortable, they also need an excellent earpiece, and the charge must be enough for a week or two of work. You can even do it without a camera - an excellent option for a sensitive subject. And yes, somehow you need to solve the issue of transferring contacts, because manually copying several hundred or even several thousand numbers is not an activity for the faint of heart.

By the way, Nokia 8110 turned out to be healthy. Really, like a small banana.

It would seem like a good chance for Nokia to create a niche, but nevertheless in-demand device. What happened?

Screen

Nokia 8110 4G received a regular TFT (TN) screen with a diagonal of 2.45 inches with a resolution of 240 by 320 pixels; it is slightly recessed into the body and covered with slightly curved plastic glass, which can cause scratches if used carelessly.

The quality of the screen is comparable to “those” models - for a simple phone such a display is quite acceptable, but no miracle happened. Viewing angles are typical for TN matrices; under bright sun it becomes blind.

Not at all what we expected

Nokia 8110 has a simple plastic body, where the slider is attached very weakly and feebly. I didn’t do a special crash test to check its strength, but there is a suspicion that falling to the ground would be fatal for it. There is no feeling of quality and reliability.

We have a Nokia 8800 in our studio; it was the hero of one of the videos with Wylsacom. So, the old ten-year-old 8800 was made much better and more thoroughly, the slider there still works perfectly. Of course, initially the 8800 was not a budget phone, but a top-end phone, this is also worth taking into account.

But there is no automatic adjustment or anything, you just slide the lid down with your finger, and then use a similar gesture to push it into place. I don’t want to play with the phone, as I did with the top 8 series models.

It may sound strange, but many 8800 owners I know, and myself, played with the slider like a toy, enjoying the metallic click.

Now a generation of people has grown up who don’t understand what we’re talking about, you won’t find this in smartphones, sliders have died out, but Nokia had a chance to regain lost feelings. But no, it turned out very simple and ascetic.

Working hours

Nokia 8110 4G is powered by a removable 1500 mAh battery. The manufacturer claims that in standby mode on a 4G network with one SIM the phone will last up to 25 days, with two SIMs - up to 17.7 days. Talk time is 7 hours in 3G, 7.2 hours in GSM, up to 9.3 hours in VoLTE. Music playback time - up to 48 hours, HD video - 6.1 hours.

A test device with one installed SIM with minimal use (up to 20 minutes of calls, occasional use to study the capabilities of the device), when connected to 3G/4G networks and Wi-Fi, worked for a week to a week and a half.

Why do you need a slider?

You need to operate the phone with the flip down, otherwise the keyboard will be locked. If you need to check the time, then turn on the screen backlight using the side power key.

To answer a call, you move the slider down, and to end it, send it up. Moreover, it is impossible to communicate in a “closed” state. It's a pity, we could add such a setting to the menu.

Specifications

This is a smartphone that is equipped with a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 205 processor, with a TFT display that displays sixty-five thousand colors. The phone's camera is two megapixels, and the 1500 mAh battery allows the device to work continuously for 7 hours in a row in talk mode.

More details about the characteristics in the table below:

What can Nokia 8110 do?

In principle, history could have ended on this sad note. Who cares about the filling if the first impressions are bad? Inexpensive materials, uncomfortable keyboard - the phone is not suitable for the role of a funny dialer.

However, there are other functions here as well. For example, an application store, you can chat on Twitter, watch YouTube, launch Google maps or play a clone of the legendary Snake. But the software in the store is limited, a dozen applications are somehow quite meager.

The screen is small, 2.4 inches, TFT-IPS with a resolution of 240x320 pixels, it fades in the sun, there is no touch control, and I have already forgotten how to enter SMS with my fingers. I can’t even believe that 10 years ago I received 1-2 thousand messages every month. I definitely wouldn’t be able to do this on the keyboard of this Nokia 8110.

In theory, you can go online or watch videos on YouTube, but spare your eyes, please. The screen is very small.

The camera is 2 megapixels, with autofocus, and it takes terrible photos. The flash works as a flashlight, thank you for that, Nokia with a flashlight is forever.

If you put a memory card in your phone, then you can use it as a player; all you have to do is connect your favorite wired headphones. In addition, you can transfer music via Bluetooth, but given the substantial size of the phone, it’s easier to take something smaller for this.

Nokia 8110 has two SIM card slots. I liked that a nanoSIM fits in one compartment and a microSIM in the other, no hassle with adapters. Another positive point is LTE support. Of course, it’s strange to be happy about this in 2020, but at a minimum, you can distribute the Internet from your phone to a laptop or tablet. And yes, the Nokia 8110 also has Wi-Fi.

The Nokia 8110 is charged both via the charger that comes in the kit and via microUSB. The battery, by the way, is removable; the battery lies under a plastic cover. The phone works for a long time, a week - quietly, but I only listened to music and made a few calls. Use the Internet on such a screen? No, life didn’t prepare me for this.

Nokia 8110 4G preview

The banana phone from The Matrix is ​​back.

Preliminary verdict Another nostalgic blast from the past – 8110 4G. If you like old flip phones, you'll probably be interested in Nokia's new offering. If you're looking for an inexpensive secondary/replacement phone, there are better options, though. Nokia 8110 4G review more...

Pros:

• Nostalgia, now with 4G;
• Huge battery life;
• Low price;

Minuses:

• Basic functions;
• Smartphones aren't much bigger;
• Complex shape for a pocket;

The new Nokia 3310 was not Nokia's only attempt. Now we get a second blast from the past from HMD (the company that produces Nokia branded smartphones) is once again getting into the Nokia Originals series.

Say hello to the very yellow (but also available in black) Nokia 8110 4G, which is launching alongside some of the manufacturer's Android smartphones at MWC 2020.

It takes its name and inspiration from the classic slider that gained fame in the 1999 film The Matrix, although the slider was slightly modified in the film.

Unfortunately, you won't get the Hollywood makeover here; you'll have to manually flip the keyboard cover open, just like we did with the original 8110 back in 1996.

HMD says the new 3310 was Europe's best-selling smartphone in 2020, proving that Nokia Originals is more than just a marketing gimmick to play on nostalgia.

So can lightning strike twice for your nostalgia? We are not sure.

NOKIA 8110 4G: RELEASE DATE AND PRICES

This is a functional phone, which means that the price of the Nokia 8110 is reasonable, about 6,000 rubles.

It is, however, more expensive than the rebooted 3310. And there are several reasons for this.

First, the design becomes more expensive, given the phone's distinctive "banana" curve and sliding section.

Secondly, the smartphone offers 4G connectivity, giving the 8110 more options for features and apps.

You'll also have to wait a little longer before you can get your hands on one of these smartphones as the Nokia 8110 4G release date is set for May.

The banana yellow version is very...yellow.

NOKIA 8110 4G: DESIGN AND DISPLAY

The original 8110 was called the banana phone for a reason. Like its predecessor, the new Nokia 8110 4G has an obvious curvature to the body, which allows the microphone and speaker to fit closely to your face during calls.

The phone feels much worse in a pocket; the long body and bend of the phone create problems when you try to fit it into skinny jeans. Wide pockets also do not completely solve the comfort problem. Maybe there is a reason why this design was abandoned?

The plastic casing is durable and should withstand a few knocks, but this sliding keyboard cover has playfully stolen our hearts.

Of course, to some extent it's just a gimmick, but there's something deeply satisfying about the feeling of popping the lid. The click you feel as the cover slides into place or slides out from under the screen, the smooth movement of the cover on its slide, is almost hypnotizing.

A nice touch is that the lid wakes up the screen when it slides down and also turns it off when you close the lid.

You'll still be able to light up the screen by pressing the power button on the right side of the phone, but you won't be able to actually use the smartphone.

That's because the 2.4-inch QVGA (160 x 120) display is not touch sensitive; all of our navigation keys are hidden under a cover.

The screen is great for reading text and viewing basic images, as well as playing games, but you won't be able to enjoy artwork or movies on this phone.

As we already mentioned, the Nokia 8110 4G comes in black and extremely vibrant banana yellow.

It also comes with a headphone jack and FM radio, as well as 4GB of storage, allowing you to listen to music with a pair of headphones.

NOKIA 8110 4G: CAMERA AND BATTERY

The Nokia 8110 4G does have a camera, but it remains basic by the standards of modern cameras.

A 2-megapixel camera graces the back of the smartphone along with a single LED flash, a feature the original didn't have, and there's no front-facing camera either.

It can be useful to have a camera for the occasional photo, but you're limited in how you can edit the photos once you've taken them, and that also applies to social sharing and sharing, due to the basic feature set.

If the Nokia 8110 4G is going to stand out, it's in the battery life department, with HMD claiming that the 1,500mAh power pack inside the phone is capable of delivering 25 days of standby time.

The report also says you'll be able to talk for up to 8.5 hours on LTE on a single charge, although that seems like an extremely long time for a single call.

Either way, thanks to its long battery life, the 8110 4G can prove itself as a holiday or spare phone since you don't have to worry about constant charging (which is done via the MicroUSB port).

On the back there is a 2-megapixel camera and flash.

NOKIA 8110 4G: PERFORMANCE / INTERFACE

It's no surprise that the Nokia 8110 4G doesn't offer great performance. Instead, you get a Qualcomm 205 chipset and just 512MB of RAM.

That's all it takes to run the tricky OS, but the updated version of Snake that debuted on the rebooted 3310 works great.

The interesting part is what enabling 4G connectivity can do to a basic phone.

HMD says it expects a rich app ecosystem for the 8110 4G in the coming months, although the only confirmed apps for now are FaceBook, Twitter, Google Maps and Google Assistant.

Improved network quality and speed means apps can do more, delivering features the 3310 could only dream of. It's unclear what's coming next, but it's something to keep an eye on if you're considering an affordable second phone.

You can also use the improved data connection to share with other devices, turning the 8110 4G into a Wi-Fi hotspot so you can connect your phone, tablet or laptop to it.

Simple operating system with Facebook, Twitter and Google Maps.

NOKIA 8110 4G: EARLY VERDICT

Nokia 8110 4G promises you some fun. It implements the classics and makes updates, but the phone is a bit overrated.

If the rebooted 3310 sibling is cheaper, and if HDM offers it a 4G version worldwide, the potential could be just as good as the 8110 with a more user-friendly design.

Still, for those looking for an aftermarket smartphone or backup device, the 8110 4G offers something interesting for cheap.